Peru Consumer Confidence July 2017

Peru: Consumer confidence inches up in July

August 1, 2017

The consumer confidence indicator published by GfK inched up to 98 in July from 97 in June, moving closer to the critical 100-point threshold which separates pessimism from optimism among Peruvian consumers. While the result is a slight improvement from last month, the presiding sentiment among Peruvian consumers is still one of pessimism.

More optimistic attitudes in the capital, Lima, and the north of the country drove the marginal uptick in the overall country-wide result. A higher proportion of households believe that they are able to save more now and see improved employment prospects in the next 12 months compared to their perceptions a month ago. Nevertheless, more than half of Peruvians have expressed discontent at the government’s measures to attempt to revive growth and question its ability to govern the economy effectively.

Panelists surveyed for this month’s LatinFocus report expect private consumption to expand 2.5% in 2017, which is down 0.2 percentage points from last month’s estimate. In 2018, panelists expect private consumption to grow 3.4%.

Peru’s trade balance recorded a USD 1.1 billion surplus in December, a substantial increase from November’s USD 588 million surplus and matching the USD 1.1 billion surplus recorded in the same month of last year.
Growth in exports moderated considerably in December, decelerating to 7.3% year-on-year from November’s 21.4% expansion.